Guston’s biggest
Danes Recreation Ground
Playing field · 260 m outside town
3.3 ha (8 acres)
5 pitchesfootball pitches would fit
Centralin the middle of Guston
Directionsto the nearest entrance
Photo: Nick Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0A+Outdoors Grade
Outdoors in Guston · parks, paths & countryside
Almost everyone in Guston lives within a 5-minute walk of a park
The Kent Downs National Landscape reaches the edge of Guston. Parks and playing fields in Guston add up to 5.8 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical UK town has 2.1. The sea makes up 28% of the area within 5 km. Guston grades A+ for the outdoors. A character grade: it isn’t part of the overall grade.
Green space
5.8 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical UK town 2.1
Near a park
100%
of residents within 400 m
Typical UK town 83%
Footpaths
20 km
2.5 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical UK town 3.0 per km²
Protected landscape
25%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Kent Downs National Landscape
The sea
28%
of the area within 5 km
Character
What kind of outdoors village is Guston?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
A park on every doorstep100% of residents live within 400 m of a park or playing field.Room to roam5.8 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 89% of UK towns.Protected countryside25% of the land within 5 km is Kent Downs National Landscape.On a National TrailThe Via Francigena - 01 part Great Britain passes through.
Guston’s strongest suit is parks close to every home, followed by plenty of park space.
Outdoors grade
Guston grades A+ for the outdoors
Each chart is every UK town of 1,000 or more on one measure: the green bar is Guston, the dashed line the typical town. The number is the share of towns it beats; the five are averaged and the average ranked again.
A+
Better than almost every UK town3rd of 60 UK villages its size
Public green space5.8 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
90out of
100
100
A park within a walk100%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
89out of
100
100
National Park or National Landscape25%of the land within 5 km
81out of
100
100
Footpaths2.5 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
44out of
100
100
The sea28%of the area within 5 km
92out of
100
100
Graded, never part of the overall grade (like History and Civic life). It measures what is mapped: OS Open Greenspace leaves out woodland and open-access land that isn’t a park, and OpenStreetMap’s rural paths are more complete in some places than others.
Villages its size
Guston is 3rd of 60 UK villages its size for the outdoors
The 60 UK towns and cities of 1,600 to 1,800 people with an Outdoors Grade. Hover a dot for its figures; tap one for its page.
Outdoors score: the share of UK towns each one beats
Footpath, km per km²
Guston2.5
Villages its size2.1
Kent towns2.6
All UK towns3.0
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Guston5.8
Villages its size2.0
Kent towns2.3
All UK towns2.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Guston100%
Villages its size79%
Kent towns78%
All UK towns83%
Against villages its size, Guston stands out most for park space per resident: only 6 of the other 59 have more.
Show as a table
| Town | Outdoors | Green space | Near a park | Path per km² | Protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pease Pottage West Sussex | A+ | 4.1 | 100% | 7.4 | 65% |
| 2 | Manningtree Essex | A+ | 5.6 | 100% | 2.5 | 43% |
| 3 | Guston Kent | A+ | 5.8 | 100% | 2.5 | 25% |
| 4 | Llansanffraid Glan Conwy Clwyd | A+ | 10.8 | 100% | 1.6 | 8% |
| 5 | Penwithick Cornwall | A | 15 | 100% | 2.8 | 0% |
| 6 | Wroxall Isle of Wight | A | 1.2 | 84% | 4.6 | 33% |
| 7 | Eccles Kent | A | 3.7 | 100% | 2.4 | 30% |
| 8 | Hutton Somerset | A | 1.8 | 100% | 2.2 | 22% |
| 9 | Southwell Dorset | A | 0.7 | 100% | 5.4 | 0% |
| 10 | Wickwar Gloucestershire | A− | 2 | 100% | 3.5 | 15% |
| 11 | Lynemouth Northumberland | A− | 3.5 | 100% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 12 | Hemyock Devon | A− | 3.2 | 100% | 1.3 | 82% |
| 13 | Seascale Cumbria | A− | 2.1 | 81% | 2.2 | 27% |
| 14 | Clayhanger West Midlands | A− | 17.4 | 100% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 15 | Harrold Bedfordshire | A− | 19.1 | 100% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 16 | Bathampton Somerset | A− | 1 | 85% | 5.5 | 62% |
| 17 | Appledore Devon | B+ | 1.2 | 100% | 1.6 | 16% |
| 18 | Starcross Devon | B+ | 1.9 | 100% | 0.9 | 1% |
| 19 | Aldbourne Wiltshire | B+ | 3.2 | 84% | 1.8 | 100% |
| 20 | Kingsdown Kent | B+ | 1.1 | 67% | 3.4 | 12% |
| 21 | Blewbury Oxfordshire | B | 3.1 | 54% | 2.7 | 79% |
| 22 | Great Kingshill Buckinghamshire | B | 2.7 | 55% | 2.9 | 84% |
| 23 | Silkstone South Yorkshire | B | 1 | 100% | 5.2 | 0% |
| 24 | Normandy Surrey | B− | 3.2 | 23% | 3.1 | 26% |
| 25 | Streethouse West Yorkshire | B− | 2.2 | 100% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 26 | Eynsford Kent | B− | 2.1 | 81% | 1.9 | 46% |
| 27 | Woodsetts South Yorkshire | B− | 2 | 100% | 2.6 | 0% |
| 28 | Allhallows Kent | B− | 3.2 | 76% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 29 | Onley Northamptonshire | B− | 2.3 | 100% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 30 | Trethomas Gwent | B− | 6.9 | 48% | 3.4 | 0% |
| 31 | Pilling Lancashire | C+ | 4.2 | 46% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 32 | Seahouses and North Sunderland Northumberland | C+ | 1.6 | 17% | 1.7 | 21% |
| 33 | Chipperfield Hertfordshire | C+ | 2.4 | 37% | 2.8 | 17% |
| 34 | Rocester Staffordshire | C+ | 15.2 | 58% | 2.5 | 0% |
| 35 | Bartestree Herefordshire | C+ | 2.1 | 81% | 1.9 | 10% |
| 36 | Templecombe Somerset | C+ | 2 | 100% | 1.7 | 0% |
| 37 | New Arley Warwickshire | C+ | 2.4 | 100% | 1.1 | 0% |
| 38 | High Littleton Somerset | C+ | 1 | 58% | 4.9 | 1% |
| 39 | Acton Suffolk | C | 1.6 | 100% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 40 | Stonesfield Oxfordshire | C | 1.9 | 60% | 1.8 | 38% |
| 41 | Earith Cambridgeshire | C | 1.2 | 78% | 3.6 | 0% |
| 42 | Wylam Northumberland | C− | 1.1 | 74% | 3.8 | 0% |
| 43 | Leeming North Yorkshire | C− | 5 | 76% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 44 | High Bentham North Yorkshire | C− | 0.1 | 0% | 2.9 | 45% |
| 45 | Thorney Cambridgeshire | C− | 3.4 | 74% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 46 | Lower Quinton Warwickshire | C− | 2 | 49% | 1.3 | 18% |
| 47 | Modbury Devon | C− | 1.7 | 39% | 1.2 | 41% |
| 48 | Creunant West Glamorgan | C− | 1.7 | 79% | 0.3 | 0% |
| 49 | Pensilva Cornwall | C− | 1.6 | 60% | 1.3 | 15% |
| 50 | Whitehill County Durham | C− | 0.3 | 0% | 7.7 | 0% |
| 51 | Upper Arncott Oxfordshire | D | 3.1 | 59% | 1.2 | 0% |
| 52 | Holt Wiltshire | D | 1.1 | 45% | 2.1 | 2% |
| 53 | Leverington Cambridgeshire | D | 2.8 | 59% | 0.8 | 0% |
| 54 | Dobwalls Cornwall | D | 1.4 | 28% | 1.5 | 15% |
| 55 | Tiddington Warwickshire | D | 0.2 | 79% | 2.2 | 0% |
| 56 | Point Clear Essex | D | 0.1 | 0% | 1.8 | 0% |
| 57 | Soughton Clwyd | D | 0.4 | 67% | 1.3 | 3% |
| 58 | Skirlaugh East Riding of Yorkshire | D | 1 | 85% | 0.7 | 0% |
| 59 | Ulceby Lincolnshire | D− | 1.2 | 72% | 0.5 | 0% |
| 60 | Welford-on-Avon Warwickshire | D− | 0.4 | 48% | 1.5 | 0% |
The map
Parks, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Guston’s built-up area.
Green space: parks, gardens, playing fields and play spaces, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · Contains OS data © Crown copyright · Natural England / NRW
Places to walk
Parks to walk in, in and around Guston
The biggest is Danes Recreation Ground, 3.3 ha (8 acres). Directions go to the park’s nearest public entrance where Ordnance Survey maps one.
Close to home
How close Guston’s homes are to a park
Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace).
Within 400 m (100%)Further (0%)
Guston100%
Villages its size79%
Kent towns78%
All UK towns83%
Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees; 21 playgrounds are mapped in and around the village, about one for every 80 residents.
National Parks & National Landscapes
National Parks and National Landscapes around Guston
Protected landscapes within 30 km, by direction and distance from the edge of the built-up area; circle size shows each one’s area. National Landscapes were called Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty until 2023.
National ParkNational LandscapeThe 5 km the grade counts
National Landscape
Kent Downs
At the edge east879 km²since 196825% of the land within 5 km
Official site25% of the land within 5 km of Guston is National Park or National Landscape, more than 81% of UK towns.
Footpaths & waymarked walks
Guston is on the Via Francigena - 01 part Great Britain
20 km of footpaths, bridleways and rights of way are mapped in Guston and the kilometre around it, 2.5 km for every square kilometre (the typical UK town has 3.0). Bars show each route’s kilometres within 2 km of the village.
NationalRegionalOther waymarked
Via Francigena - 01 part Great Britain10.2 km
North Downs Way (Canterbury loop)6.3 km
King Charles III England Coast Path: Folkestone to Ramsgate4.7 km
Saxon Shore Way4.7 km
European walking route E2, UK, Dover-Calais ferry3.7 km
Visitor Centre to Fan Bay Deep Shelter and South Foreland Lighthouse Circiular Trail, White Cliffs2.7 km
Dover Cruise Terminal to National Trust White Cliffs Visitor Centre Walking Trail, White Cliffs2.3 km
Visitor Centre to Dover Castle Trail, White Cliffs2.1 km
Visitor Centre to Langdon Stairs Trail, White Cliffs1.6 km
North Downs Way (Eastern)1.1 km
European walking route E9, Rye to Dover1.1 km
The Via Francigena - 01 part Great Britain, a national route, passes Guston. The regional route here is the Saxon Shore Way.
Waymarked walks are OpenStreetMap walking routes. Public rights of way are only as complete as the map in each area.
When to get out
The best walking months in Guston: May to September
The village’s 1991–2020 averages (Met Office HadUK-Grid) and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have 12½+ hours of daylight, highs of 15 °C or more and little rain for the town.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.4 | 9.9 | 11.7 | 13.8 | 15.5 | 16.5 | 16.1 | 14.6 | 12.5 | 10.6 | 8.8 | 7.9 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 21 | 22 | 19 | 16 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 84 | 60 | 48 | 48 | 52 | 53 | 56 | 61 | 68 | 96 | 98 | 96 |
March is the driest month (48 mm) and August the warmest (highs of 22 °C). Winter days are short, about 8 hours of daylight in December, and 98 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. Frost comes on about 27 nights a year. The climate in Guston →
The coast
Guston is near the sea
28% of the area within 5 km of Guston is sea. 7 beaches are mapped within 5 km, 3 with a name.
Langdon Beach1.0 mi from town
DirectionsShakespeare's Beach1.8 mi from town
DirectionsSt Margaret's Bay2.4 mi from town
DirectionsThe King Charles III England Coast Path passes the town.
Sea: the area outside the ONS coastline (mean high water). Bathing water quality is published by the Environment Agency (England) and Natural Resources Wales; check it before swimming.
Things to do
7 viewpoints and 21 playgrounds
Mapped within 2 km of the village in OpenStreetMap, against the typical UK village its size per resident. Named places are listed with directions; unnamed ones are only counted.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 7
Plus 7 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Nature reserves 1
High Meadow24 ha · 1.2 mi from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 21
Siege Play Area0.5 mi from town
DirectionsEvison Close Play Area0.9 mi from town
DirectionsPlus 19 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 1
Plus 1 dog park without a name on the map.
Slipways 1
Plus 1 slipway without a name on the map.
Next door
The outdoors in nearby towns
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 12 miles. Tap a town for its outdoors page.
DoverWhitfieldSt Margaret's at CliffeKingsdownEythorneSibertswoldGuston
ABCDOutdoors Grade
| Town | Outdoors | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Near a park | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guston | A+ | 5.8 | 100% | 25% |
| Dover 1.3 mi | A+ | 3.0 | 86% | 29% |
| Whitfield 1.7 mi | A− | 2.3 | 79% | 32% |
| St Margaret's at Cliffe 2.6 mi | A | 2.3 | 90% | 15% |
| Kingsdown 4.5 mi | B+ | 1.1 | 67% | 12% |
| Eythorne 4.7 mi | C | 0.5 | 79% | 9% |
| Sibertswold 5.0 mi | B− | 1.9 | 79% | 38% |
Guston grades higher for the outdoors than every neighbour in the table.
Questions about the outdoors in Guston
What is the biggest park in Guston?
Danes Recreation Ground, 3.3 ha (8 acres), just outside the built-up area. 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the village or within 400 m of it.
Is Guston near a National Park?
It covers 879 km² and was designated in 1968.
What are the best walks near Guston?
11 waymarked walking routes pass within 2 km of the village, including the Via Francigena - 01 part Great Britain, North Downs Way (Canterbury loop) and King Charles III England Coast Path: Folkestone to Ramsgate.
How many people in Guston live near a park?
100% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a public park, garden or playing field (Census 2021 output areas against OS Open Greenspace). The typical UK town is 83%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Guston?
May to September: the longest days, the warmest afternoons and the least rain of the year, from the Met Office 1991–2020 averages.
Is Guston good for walking?
About average for paths: 2.5 km of footpath and right of way per square kilometre, more than 44% of UK towns. For park space per person it beats 90% (5.8 ha per 1,000 residents).
How is the Outdoors Grade worked out?
From five measures, each placed among UK towns of 1,000 or more: public green space per resident, the share living near a park, National Park or National Landscape within 5 km, footpaths per square kilometre, and the sea within 5 km. It is a character grade and isn’t part of Guston’s overall grade.
Sources
Where Guston’s outdoors figures come from
- Parks and green space: Ordnance Survey OS Open Greenspace (parks and gardens, playing fields, play spaces, and their access points). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- National Parks and National Landscapes: Natural England and Natural Resources Wales boundaries, areas and designation dates, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Footpaths, walking routes, beaches and things to do: © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License (ODbL), via Geofabrik, 16 October 2026.
- Historic parks, listed buildings and monuments: Historic England, National Heritage List for England, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Rain and temperature: Met Office HadUK-Grid 1991–2020 averages for the town; daylight calculated from its latitude.
- The sea: ONS Countries (December 2024) boundaries clipped to mean high water. Residents near a park: ONS Census 2021 output areas.
- Grade: TownRatings’ Outdoors Grade, ranked against UK towns only.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.